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Watching television as the horrific events of Sept. 11 unfolded, his mother Lisette crying, he received a call from his father, Rob, a New York City detective summoned to the World Trade Center.

"Gavin, you know what your dad does, and this is pretty bad," he said, his voice trembling. "I may not be coming home."

Lisette, seven months pregnant with the family's second child, frantically pleaded for her husband to come home when Gavin replied.

"It's all right dad," he said in his tiny voice. "I will take care of the family. I will be the man of the house."

Two days later, after endless hours of breathing in heavy dust, and searching through debris, hoping against all hope, Rob returned to his Coram, Long Island, home.

He held them, never wanting to let go.

At that moment, amid the sadness and tragedy of the terrorist attack on America, Rob and Gavin forged an unbreakable bond. They are father and son. They are best friends.

Eleven years later, Gavin is a football and track and field athlete at Lakeland High School and the O'Donnell family that now includes two daughters, Kayle, 10, and Madison, 9, live in the serene countryside of Greenfield Twp., seemingly a world away from the city they used to call home.

And Rob is there, as he has been every day, to pick his son up from practice. He is there to support him in school and on the field. He is there to discipline and guide. To teach and to love.

He is there, cherishing every minute.

He did come home.

"My dad and I have always been close," Gavin said. "He is my best friend. He does so much for me. I know what he is feeling. I know what he has been through, and I try to give him the respect of being a good son and being there with him, to spend time with him.

"People who have been through something like that need the support of their family."

- - -

As a New York City homicide detective in the fall of 2001, Rob and his team had just closed a four-day murder investigation. After the intensity and stress of the case had robbed them of sleep, there had been an arrest.

It was the early hours of Sept. 11 and, with the sky still dark, Rob couldn't help but have a slightly satisfied smile, he said, while enduring his 60-mile commute from the city to Long Island.

After a few hours of rest and a refreshing shower though, he saw the reports on television that a plane had flown into one of the towers. His mother, Linda, checked in from her Moscow, Pa., home. Rob's brother, Chris, worked in Building 5, raising anxiety.

Soon, he and the rest of the New York City emergency personnel were summoned.

Gavin, a kindergarten student at West Middle Island, had been picked up by his mom. From there, his life as a child changed.

"I didn't know the seriousness then," Gavin said. "He used to call all the time and tell me that I had to be the man of the house while he was gone. So I just thought it was one of those calls. I watched the news. I saw the towers come down, and I knew that was where he was calling from. I knew he was somewhere there, and my mom was really crying.

"I could only hug her."

At the site, Rob's heart went out to the victims. His brother was safe and his duty had him frantically doing whatever he could to help.

It left a lasting impression. One that keeps him, for now, from returning to Ground Zero.

"Every couple of minutes, there were things happening that indicated you weren't coming out of this," said Rob, who also spent a year in the recovery process. "You couldn't have dragged me away, though. There were friends of mine missing. I had friends trying to get people out. They had to try and they were the real heroes."

An injured back, exasperated by lifting and moving crumbled concrete, required surgery, and in December 2003, he retired.

Although he left the job, his fractured psyche and the images of rubble and destruction haunted him. He needed relief from the carnage and sought quiet when searching for a home. The calmness of a residential area in the woods of Greenfield and the view of mountains in the horizon from the back porch brought him to Pennsylvania.

In his new spacious backyard, Rob began teaching Gavin how to play football. It was a dream come true for the longtime Giants fan, who grew up in the city where high school football lacked the passion he saw in Northeast Pennsylvania.

"There were no Friday night lights for me growing up," Rob said. "Life was always too busy in the city."

They did drills together and tossed the ball back and forth. Gavin learned the game from a dedicated instructor.

"I remember that when I first started, I knew nothing about football," Gavin said. "He studied the game. I started to love the game, as much as he did. We found this together. It was something we shared a passion for. He's the reason I work so hard at athletics. I wasn't that athletic growing up.

"But he really worked with me every step of the way."

- - -

As Gavin grew older, their relationship grew stronger.

In track and field, the two have spent long days at Lakeland's track training for the hurdles. They got to know each other on cross-country trips to U.S.A. Track and Field Junior Olympics events. They shared in the experience of seeing the Mississippi River. They enjoyed some of Kansas City's finest barbecue. They bonded.

These are the moments they treasure most.

"You really see who your son is," Rob said. "I learned how dedicated he is. He may not always be the best athlete competing, but he is always going to do his best. That means everything to me.

"It makes those trips so special."

In football, Rob, who is now a director of public safety in the Poconos, always carves out time for his son.

He coached Gavin during his days as a Junior Chief. They have taken visits to college football's shrines at Notre Dame and the United States Naval Academy for camps. He films every game. He edits and develops highlight clips and maintains contacts with recruiters. He authored an extensive biography that includes Gavin's 13 catches for 172 yards and four touchdowns heading into tonight's important game at Mid Valley.

"Gavin does the right things," Lakeland coach Jeff Wasilchak said. "He's a good citizen. He wants to do the best he can at everything. He appreciates coaching. And he's just a dedicated kid in school and in sports."

Rob also counsels his son on his academics. Gavin is an honor roll student. He wants to study engineering.

And all of this commitment and devotion is driven by love.

"At the time, during the hell of 9/11, Gavin was my voice of calm," Rob said. "Him doing that, and as scared as I was, I knew I had him. I was going to make it because of him. I am not going to miss anything with him. If he is going to do something and try to be the best he can, I am going to be there.

"He's going to look in the stands and see me standing there."

After each game, regardless of the outcome, Gavin, now 16, seeks out his father, who at 42 fears health problems caused by breathing in dust and contaminants at Ground Zero, the same health issues many who were at Ground Zero are now battling.

Their shared hug is the most important part of the night.

"He's the first person I look for," Gavin said. "I look to him whether it was a bad game or a good game. I couldn't picture my life now without him, and I know it was close, and I know that my mom would have been there for me. But for him to be here has been so great.

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